


Mist Effect: Shadows of Omega

by Abalidoth



Category: Mass Effect, Mistborn - Brandon Sanderson
Genre: Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-05
Updated: 2012-09-05
Packaged: 2017-11-13 14:47:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/504650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Abalidoth/pseuds/Abalidoth
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Vin, a street urchin in the depths of Omega Station, runs into some trouble. Mistborn/Mass Effect crossover.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mist Effect: Shadows of Omega

**Author's Note:**

> Written as part of a giveaway on Tumblr. The prompt was "Vin in the Mass Effect universe."

Vin could tell by her brother’s footsteps – the way they dragged on the corrugated metal, a hesitant scuff – that he wanted something from her.

He swaggered up to her latest hideout, a platform suspended on chains up above a residential block in one of the many air-filtration complexes that permeated Omega Station. She’d tucked herself away on a ledge between two massive fan units whose vibrations didn’t  _quite_ synchronize. The effect, an odd bone-shaking resonance, was unnerving to most people. And so Vin had found one of the few places, on an overcrowded asteroid of almost eight million beings, where she could get some solitude.

Reen was the only one who could find Vin when she didn’t want to be found. The rest of his gang never could. Which was the point. Still, he thought he was a lot sneakier than he really was. She was poised and waiting for him long before he saw her, watching from her platform beneath the chain-rattling fans.

“Hey. Vin.” he said. “I need you to rig another dice game for me.”

At least he wasn’t beating around the bush about it. Vin was simultaneously pissed off and relieved. “You said last time would be the _last_ time.”

Reen shrugged, like promises held no sway over him. He never dropped that devil-may-care alpha male schtick, even around the one person who knew better. “That was then. This is now. This’ll be the last one, swear. I know this batarian guy, he says we can go into business smuggling Alliance spaceship parts coming out of Illium. We just need enough money to get started with it.”

Vin thought about the proposition, feeling dark ugly words bubble to the surface. Just as quickly, she squashed them. She couldn’t afford to fight with Reen, not then, not when it would be so much harder to be alone. A flaky, capricious brother was better than no brother at all. So she acquiesced, albeit reluctantly, and dropped lightly to her feet on the catwalk beside him. The platform shook a bit on its chains, and Reen tensed and looked down nervously. Good. Sometimes he needed to be reminded that the station didn’t orbit around  _him_.

Vin trailed him like a surly shadow through the streets of Omega. They weren’t in a predominantly human area, which made it harder to blend in, but this was where Reen’s gang’s stomping grounds were, so this was where Vin and Reen would camp out. The local gangs were made up of mostly vorcha and batarians; Blood Pack and Blue Suns mixed like oil and vinegar, but they could be trusted to keep the peace – if only to deny the other guy the satisfaction of a fight.

The dice game was an ad hoc, outdoor affair. Nobody dared use loaded dice; people were  _accused_ of using trick dice often enough (and summarily beaten in a dark corner somewhere) that not even the stupidest vorcha would risk it. So the rule was “bring your own dice,” but no one used the set they brought to the table. When it came time to use one person’s set, they passed it to another player and sat out of the game. Everyone from Sector Four had gathered to watch the only entertainment in town: drifters and druggies, mercs and mothers, every species and creed. The one thing that bound them was desperation. Well, and boredom.

Reen pulled out his dice and talked to the bookie. Someone scrawled his name on a list; Vin faded back into the crowd, waiting for her moment. It took a while. Only so many people could be in each game, and it didn’t help that the event itself had to be periodically stopped for refereeing or fistfights. Vin itched to get back to her safe little corner between the fans. But she stayed out there for Reen’s sake. Those spaceship parts had better be worth it.

Reen was two games away from playing when Vin first noticed the asari. She stood at the periphery of the crowd much like Vin was, watching with the same kind of practiced eye. She stuck out much more than Vin, though. It wasn’t so much that she was an asari – there were a very few who were enough down on their luck to live here, but most of the local residents were dancers or prostitutes. This asari didn’t look like a bar girl or someone who’d “embrace eternity” for the right price. The blue-skinned woman was dressed in pretty much the same way Vin was, in loose clothes that would be good to fight in. Nothing extravagant. But most asari in the slums of Omega thrived on being noticed – this one blended in a little  _too_  perfectly.

She was also watching Reen.

Vin tensed. Whoever this woman was, she was working for someone powerful. One of the merc bands, maybe. Eclipse had less presence here—the asari-led mercs were either too classy or too smart to want to mingle with the low-class Blood Pack and Blue Suns—but it was always possible. Or maybe she was working for Aria herself. It didn’t really matter who had taken an interest in her brother; more eyes on Reen meant more problems for Vin.

She still had a job to do, though. So when it was Reen’s turn in the dice ring, along with a few other hopefuls, she pushed through to the inner part of the crowd so she could watch the throws. Still, the crowd was kept far enough away from the ring that only Vin and a few sharp-eyed turians could actually see the results of the rolls. The rest were watching the players, not the game. That made things easier.

After a few rounds, Vin started tweaking the rolls. She’d never been able to explain what it was that she did, so it was fortunate that no one had ever asked. As each die tumbled, she reached inside her mind, felt its trajectory, and…twisted. A little flash of blue light burst behind her eyeballs with each tweak. Reen had told her once that others called this power “biotics,” but Vin just thought of it as her luck.

Reen won just enough money to get the parts he needed, plus enough for him and Vin to eat for a while. No one called them out, because the game didn’t look suspicious, it looked  _exciting_. Games with loaded dice were predictable uphill slogs; the tilt of probability ensured a steady number of wins, but only if you bet conservatively. Reen bet big, and inconsistently. He made huge windfalls and equally impressive losses, and the roller coaster ride averaged out to a decent haul. But it didn’t look like the work of a careful cheater. Reen was just another reckless idiot with the luck to match.

When he was done, he threw her a nod, bowed out of the game, and headed towards a batarian in sandblasted mercenaries’ armor on the other side of the road. Vin turned to go home, not expecting to see Reen for another day at least. He’d be back with enough money for her to eat, then vanish for a week or so. It was a comfortable pattern, and even if Vin didn’t exactly feel  _loved_ , at least she knew there was someone out there who knew she existed.

She was lost in thought as she walked “home,” but not so lost that she didn’t notice the footsteps converging on her from all directions. Vin tried to dodge into shadow, her natural habitat, but the omnipresent streetlights made shade scarce.

A figure stepped directly in front of her. It was the asari she had seen at the dice game, flanked by enforcers of various species. “Nice night for a walk, isn’t it?” Her voice was just like her attire – so carefully casual that it raised alarm bells.

“Yeah. Walking  _alone_.”

The asari’s mouth curved up in a cruel hook, a parody of a smile. “A sassy one, hm? Okay, we’ll do this the direct way.” She nodded to her right hand man, an old scarred turian with one eye. “Grab her.”

The turian reached out and grabbed at empty air. Vin darted to the left, used to the grabbing hands of Reen’s roughhousing gangmates, and brought her own arm down on the turian’s wrist. She followed with a sharp kick down on one of his heelspurs, and launched herself off between two nearby buildings.

There were more thugs down this way. Vin huffed out a breath and tried to dodge past them, feinting at the last second. Two of them fell for it, but the third was too fast; he snatched a handful of her jacket as she passed by. Vin balled up all of her frustration and rage behind her fist, and launched it at him in a flash of blue light.

The biotic blast knocked him off his feet, but quickly lost power. His grip held steady; his falling momentum pulled her over and back, ripping her jacket. One of the other enforcers recovered from Vin’s feint and grabbed her roughly by the neck, pulling her off of the other one he had taken down. So much for that great idea. Now she was even more trapped than before.

She was dropped, fuming, in front of the asari. This time Vin had a gun against her temple, courtesy of yet another thug. The asari shook her head. “I was hoping you’d work willingly, but it looks like we can’t take the risk. I’ll just have to find your brother and…”

“Who said anything about a brother?” Vin spat. “I hate that guy. He just splits his winnings with me, that’s all.”

“If that were true, you’d be trying to throw him under the bus. I can tell when you’re trying to protect someone.” The asari knelt, her cold eyes catching the glow of the streetlights. “It’s a good thing you’re better at microscale biotics than you are at lying, girl.”

Vin growled. “Fine. What do you want with me?”

The asari opened her mouth—

—and never finished her sentence. With a blast of light and noise and a _hell_ of a lot of kinetic energy, a krogan in full battle armor just _appeared_ where she had been standing. The shockwave of the biotic charge knocked the thug behind Vin flying, but Vin had had herself shielded since the moment she tried to run. She felt the wave’s immense power as it washed over her. The krogan roared and pounded the ground with his fists, letting out another tide of gravitational energy. The floor dented and the asari’s bullyboys scattered like bowling pins.

It didn’t take long for the krogan to clear up the rest of them. He moved like a dancer and hit like a wrecking ball, flinging foes with every efficient movement. Before Vin could even stand, he was there standing over her, offering her a hand up.

She stood on her own, not even looking at his massive hand. He chuckled, a rough sound like glass in an air turbine, and dropped it to his side. “Yeah, yeah, I know, tough girl. You could take them, right? Didn’t need my help?”

“Who are you?” Vin asked.

“Half of Aria’s goons are chasing after some street kid, and she asks  _me_ who  _I_  am? Huh.” The krogan touched something at the side of his head, and his glowing faceplate retracted back into his armor. He looked younger than she’d expected given his voice. “Kelsier. Yeah, it’s a weird name for a krogan. Don’t ask for a clan, either, because I don’t have one right now.”

Vin crossed her arms. This called for unprecedented openness on her part. “I’m Vin.”

“So I’ve heard, kid.” Kelsier walked over to where the asari had fallen after being rammed by his charge; she wasn’t moving. He poked her with a foot and she groaned. “Huh. Thought I hit her harder than that. Anyway. This is probably the first you’ve heard of it, but Aria’s been looking for you for a couple of days. She’s got eyes watching all of the street gambling that goes on in here, and they noticed a pattern. Someone was rigging it, and it wasn’t just loaded dice.” He turned one reptilian eye on her. “Smart kid like you wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?”

“No.”

“Good answer.” He laughed again. It was a surprisingly warm sound for how rough it was. “Although it’s a bit too late for that. Ms. T’Sadria here,” he poked the asari again, “was watching you and your high-rolling gambler friend at the game today. And I was watching  _her_ through some security cameras. Sorry I couldn’t get to you sooner, by the way.”

Vin stepped out in the open. Even with only one potential attacker, she didn’t like having her back against a wall when she could help it. “What do you want from me?”

“I want the same thing Aria did, except I’m giving you a choice instead of kidnapping you off the street. I want you to work for me. You’ve got a hell of a talent, kid.”

“Not really. I can’t do…that.” She gestured vaguely at the dead and dazed goons around them. “You’re a better biotic than me anyway. Why me?”

“A _stronger_  biotic than you, maybe. And definitely better trained.” Kelsier knelt down. Even then he was a bit taller than Vin. “But you can interfere with dice as they fall. I’ve never met a biotic with that kind of precision. Sure, I could probably punch a hole in the wall of this station, but…well, I’m a krogan. We don’t do subtle. That’s something special, and it’s something that everyone here wants access to.”

“That doesn’t really answer my question.” It felt odd to talk for so long; this was probably the most words she’d spoken at one time in months. “Why doyou need someone with my skills?”

“For the team. Here, follow me. I’ll introduce you around, tell you in more detail what the deal is, then let you decide whether to throw in with us or not. Sound good?” He started walking off down the road without waiting for an answer. After a moment of hesitation, Vin followed. “See,” Kelsier continued, “It’s said that there’s only one rule of Omega.”

“Don’t fuck with Aria,” Vin said wryly.

“Right. Well, I’ve put together a team of people – a team I hope you’ll be part of – to do exactly that. We’re going to rob her blind, destroy her popular support, undermine her authority, and then – if she’s  _lucky_  – we’ll kill her. Omega has suffered long enough with her in charge, and we’re going to change that.”

Vin was quiet for a while, and Kelsier seemed content to walk alongside her and let her think. Eventually she shrugged. “It’s better than living between two fans and hustling dice.”

Kelsier laughed. “We’ll see how you feel about that when you’re neck deep in training. Come on, we’ve still got a ways to go.”

Vin liked that. It was a good thing to have “a ways” to go – it meant that, for once, she had a direction to go  _in_.


End file.
